Drummond Moir joins Ebury, as two non-fiction hubs created

Drummond Moir is joining Ebury from Hodder in the role of deputy publisher, as the Penguin Random House division announces the launch of two new narrative non-fiction hubs, one for "smart" books and the other for entertainment publishing.

Moir, who is current head of general non-fiction at Hodder, will join Ebury on 15th April to lead the "smart" hub. Meanwhile Ebury’s Sara Cywinski (pictured below), who will be promoted from editorial director to publishing director, is to lead the entertainment hub.

Moir's hub will feature serious non-fiction, voice-led narrative and smart thinking and business, with major authors this year including Netflix founder Reed Hastings, broadcaster James O’Brien, Ogilvy chief Rory Sutherland and Poverty Safari prize-winner Darren McGarvey.

The editorial team reporting to Moir will include senior commissioning editor Jamie Joseph, commissioning editor Robyn Drury, editor Clare Bullock – who recently made her first acquisition - as well as Lucy Oates, newly promoted to commissioning editor this month.

Cywinski will step up later in the year, when she returns from maternity leave, to become publishing director for the entertainment hub. She will oversee Ebury’s personality and platform-led publishing with authors including Harry Redknapp, Dani Dyer, Guy Martin and Peter Crouch. Reporting to Cywinski will be senior editorial director Lorna Russell, editorial director Emma Smith, commissioning editor Anna Mrowiec and assistant editor Michelle Warner.

Ebury told The Bookseller that the new hubs would not necessarily lead to an increased output in title count, with around 260 books currently published a year. 

“This is an exciting time for Ebury, building on our strong autumn, and we’re thrilled to be attracting some of London’s real publishing talent," m.d. Joel Rickett said. "The new structure gives us two complementary hubs, one that will pursue unique idea and voice-driven books, the other focusing on platform and personality-led entertainment. The hubs enable us to harness shared skills and passions to drive each strand of publishing forward.”

Publisher Andrew Goodfellow said of the appointments: “Drummond is a smart, strategic and ambitious publisher and yet wears it all modestly; he will play a crucial role in taking us forward. Similarly, it’s important to recognise the strengths we already have in the team, so we’re delighted to promote Sara Cywinski." 

He revealed hopes for more recognition of Ebury's non-fiction output. "We think culturally Ebury occupies a special place in non-fiction publishing, that of unparalleled dedication and expertise. Indeed we hope authors, agents and readers will increasingly see us as the natural home of non-fiction whatever their proposition,” he said.

Moir said of his appointment to lead the smart-thinking hub: “These are thrilling times for non-fiction, as outstanding books that inform, inspire, surprise and captivate readers continue to enjoy a renaissance. As such it’s the perfect moment for me to join the prodigious team at Ebury and lead their smart non-fiction." He also paid tribute to the "brilliant colleagues and authors" he has worked with at Hachette "during seven very happy years". 

In an internal note to Hachette staff, shared with The Bookseller, Hodder & Stoughton m.d. Carolyn Mays wrote: “We have been incredibly lucky to have had seven wonderful years with Drummond, five of them in Sceptre, where he has worked with Carole to leave a lasting mark with his acquisitions of Rolf Dobelli, Frederick Backman and of course this year’s massive hit, Factfulness.” The book about the power of facts, which Moir published last year, became Hodder’s bestselling physical and audiobook of the year, the publisher said.

Moir became head of Hodder’s narrative non-fiction, growing turnover and profit in 2017. He originally joined Sceptre in 2011 and also published non-fiction titles such as The Art of Thinking Clearly and Becoming Steve Jobs. Previously he held editorial roles at William Heinemann, Bodley Head and Jonathan Cape after first joining Random House in 2006.

The news follows a significant shift in the non-fiction market, as reported by The Bookseller in June, with "brainy" titles on the rise, partially the result of the continuing wane of the celebrity market and the continued success of backlist titles such as Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens (Vintage). Next month will see HarperCollins launch Mudlark, billed as a boutique imprint mixing "quality" memoir, polemic and narrative non-fiction, to be led by Jack Fogg, Harper Fiction and NonFiction publishing director, as well as the formation of Hachette's Octopus Publishing new non-fiction imprint focused on first-person narratives, headed up Jake Lingwood, formerly of Ebury.

Moir's appointment comes after a raft of changes at Ebury in recent months including the appointment of Joel Rickett to m.d. and the promotion of Andrew Goodfellow to publisher. Lingwood revealed his departure as deputy m.d. and publisher last autumn after 20 years with the company shortly before Rickett's appointment was announced. Meanwhile Oliva Morris will join Ebury’s Rider imprint as publishing director from Orion, it was reported earlier this month.

The other key Ebury teams and publishing directors are Ebury Press Illustrated which consists of illustrated, narrative and fiction and is headed up by Lizzy Gray, along with lifestyle imprint Vermilion (Susanna Abbott), BBC Books (Albert DePetrillo), Fiction (Gillian Green) and Enterprises (Carey Smith), the brand publishing arm of Ebury Press.